The first email I read in the day is Chris Brogan’s and it’s usually before breakfast. He’s very revealing in a business sense and within that honesty you’ll often find gems of practical advice. His advice can be a little left field as he expounds about far more than just marketing per se by getting into some life and well-being thoughts, but it’s all very well received.

He wrote recently, Doing the Work is Sexy. From it, “I was an owner long before I was the boss. I owned my desk at my telephone company job, and that got me better opportunities, because I owned everything I could and make it my responsibility to do even more than the role required on paper. When I moved to my wireless telecom roles, I owned every one of them. I worked harder on projects that weren’t my assigned work while completing the job they paid me for as well.” This hit me squarely between the eyes.

I’ve been trying to articulate ‘ownership’ to my teams for over a decade with varying success. It’s surely the perennial problem of having others take responsibility for their world at work.

Owning and being responsible for projects, tasks, duties, etc means digging in and not pushing things back onto others. It’s seeing things through rather than dreaming up reasons and excuses why they didn’t float. It’s a buck-stops-here mentality, even though you may be well down the pecking order of the organisation chart.

Saying, “this is above my pay grade,” isn’t taking ownership. Neither are, “I don’t know why I didn’t complete X,” or, “sorry, I simply forgot,” or, “I never seem to find the time.”

The noun manager implies even more ownership. So synonymous is the relationship that you could actually switch job titles from Manager of X to Owner of X, but that would invoke a HR heart attack.

From what I’ve observed I’d say ownership is a mindset, albeit a difficult one to sustain. It comes at a personal cost as you invest more of yourself than your raw job description prescribes. Too few are willing to shoulder the commitment and resilience that owning your role demands. Yet, without blind luck and stumbling on good fortune, only through ownership can you ever become the boss. They go hand in hand, with ownership the first to be outstretched.

Side note:
Heston Blumenthal worked 120+ hours a week for 5 years. He took himself and his one employee to a huge team of chefs and three Michelin stars. He went from self-taught nobody to being mentioned in more or less every good restaurant guide in the world. That’s an awful lot of ownership.

Few folks undervalue themselves in the workplace. They can mistake confidence for capability and often reinforce that by saying how great they are.

Interviewees will tell you how perfect they are for the role; how their skills and experience dovetails your job description, even though they’re barely out of university or college with little real experience.

Hertzberg is widely known for his two-factor theory but I prefer another of his truisms which goes along the lines of: 10% of your team will not be a loss if they depart; the middle 80% do a fair amount of work on a given day; and, if you’re lucky, 10% will overachieve and push the organisation on.

Eric Paley describes this brilliantly. He splits that middle 80% into B and C performers. Summarising again, C performers are somewhat productive with sufficient coaching, B performers think they’re A performers but simply (though not overly common) understand their objectives well and deliver them competently.

Your A performers are the diamonds. They aren’t content with how it is today. They feel the pain of an unsolved problem – they look for those problems and constantly strive to find the fix. They’re restless and never fully happy with performance. No matter how good things appear on paper, they could ALWAYS be better. They’ll obsess over the end user and the end game whether that’s a patient, a player, a client or a system.

As Seth says, “a few people, very few, work to relentlessly raise the bar. She’s the one who over delivers on projects, shows up ahead of schedule, instigates, suggests and pushes… Raising the bar is exhausting… Success is not about speeding up the assembly line as much as it relies on individuals able to create leaps forward.”

A performers are happy to retool the whole process, in fact they’re constantly looking to – most others will want the status quo to continue. Nothing is taboo, nothing is off the change agenda. In fact the opposite: change MUST happen.

The challenge then, especially for small businesses is not to be blinded by the overconfident self-bravado and promotion of C and B performers. Having identified them, work on improvements but spend resources courting new and existing A performers – they’re the true superstars of your world and they’re where the future lies.
[No, unfortunately you don’t see A performers in action on The Apprentice.]

That’s what people say when they can’t be bothered to do something, “Life’s too short.” It’s a lazy cop out from losing weight, from saving money, from knuckling down – and we all know it’s bull s**t as we say it.

Sure, life is too short to pull your hair out over every lost Twitter follower. Too short to scream from the roof tops when your 8 year-old’s football team loses a game. But it isn’t too short for a bit of effort – that’s always underrated.

When there are folks like this and these beating all the odds science and nature throws at them, are we learning life isn’t long enough to be doing more for ourselves?

Most of us look at our labour rates.  A restaurant owner will write her rota and give hours to waiters and chefs based on anticipated takings that week – for example 8% of takings will be spent on wages. I’ve been told Tesco store managers aim to keep labour below 5%.

Well, if you think you’re doing something wrong at 15%, 25% or 35% then think about running a football club. Fernando Torres, Suarez and Andy Carroll have sent the back pages in a spin recently but the underlying labour rate at football clubs is 60%!

Stefan Szymanski from Cass Business School has published a study that says 60% of a premiership football club’s expenditure is on players’ wages. The study calculates that it costs £7m to win a game, up from half a million at the start of the premiership. Assuming you need 28 wins to take the title, costs would be around £200m to lift the silverware.

Where on earth is the profit in this game? How can it survive on these labour ratios and systemic debt without scores of billionaire sugar-daddies willing to treat it as a hobby? Isn’t it the very definition of unsustainable?

Photo credit: Karen Horton

Like most UK retailers and caterers I’m avidly watching two TV programmes running at the moment: Mary Portas’ Secret Shopper and Michel Roux’s Service.

Secret Shopper
Mary Portas is her usual truculent self and she’s right to bemoan retail service – on the whole it’s dire with a capital D. Despite embarrassing some of the biggest names on the high street, I’m not sure an over-edited show (we saw the same clip five times) will have the desired effect and have management draw their swords, demanding the engagement necessary to perform at such a level.

Service
Last week’s Service showed a huge contradiction from the management team. When teaching recruits the basics of waiting tables they described eye contact and ghost-like speed, but neglected to mention to serve dishes from the customers’ right shoulder and to clear from their left.

As they didn’t teach this practice from the beginning, or in any of the live restaurant sessions, the recruits’ habit was to serve and clear over both shoulders. In most environments this wouldn’t matter one bit, but in last week’s 5 star restaurant at Bovey Castle it saw them pilloried.

The newly introduced procedure confused and frustrated the cohort, adding yet more pressure to an already stressful learning curve.

The rule here is simple: if something is crucially important and fundamental, say it upfront. Make up a song or a mnemonic. Do whatever is needed to drill the message home early, but don’t let your team drive on the right only to be told weeks later they should’ve been on the left all along.

Photo credit: pasotraspasto

Three isn't a crowd at Google

Two of the world’s top tech companies announced overhauls at the top this week. Sadly, Steve Jobs’ health will see him step aside for an as-yet unannounced successor at Apple (Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook will stand in at least in the short term). And Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO, surprised most of us by tweeting, “Day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed! http://goo.gl/zC89p”

Ten years ago Mr Schmidt was brought in to appease Wall Street. The inmates weren’t going to run the asylum; the kids would be looked after by a mature business brain. He’s done an incredible job but of course there are still some who will criticise saying Google is a little slow to react, that their search isn’t as good or as strong as it should be, that they acquire rather than create. But when you’re in this league, they’ll criticise you no matter what. His decade at the helm has been pretty flawless by any standard.

Product trumps business
Just like the footballers that are shuffling around the country this month, tech CEOs need to be product people. It’s easy to say from my chair, but the business side of Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, Google etc becomes a poor second to the products themselves. Without great products you wont find reach. Without reach you wont have take up. Without take up there is no scale. Without scale there is no money to be had – just look at Delicious’ closure by owners Yahoo!.

I believe product input and knowledge is why Google didn’t look outside for Schmidt’s successor. Just look at the emphasis on product in this excerpt from Schmidt’s blog post on the announcement:

Larry [Page] will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths, and starting from April 4 he will take charge of our day-to-day operations as Google’s Chief Executive Officer. In this new role I know he will merge Google’s technology and business vision brilliantly…

Sergey has decided to devote his time and energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products. His title will be Co-Founder. He’s an innovator and entrepreneur to the core, and this role suits him perfectly.

So we know Larry is definitely a product man. The question is can he change and become more media-friendly under crushing scrutiny, or, is he going to be typically Googlesque and rip up the rules, creating a whole new cult CEO playbook? Plus, what’s the odds on Apple promoting from within for Mr Jobs’ eventual succession?

Your thoughts?

If your firm doesn’t have a robust, progressive appraisal system that will automatically promote you for good performance (unlikely outside a very large organisation), then you need to demonstrate your ability before asking. This lets you knock on the door and say, “I feel I’m deserving because of X, Y and Z,” rather than, “I’d like more money and think I can prove how good I can be.

I’ve a friend who took a job in a clothing warehouse. His colleagues would be in jeans and t-shirts but every day he wore trousers with a shirt and tie. He was ridiculed at the beginning but that soon faded and when the next supervisor role became available he was the one chosen for promotion. Sure, it was awarded on more than dress sense but his clothes were typical of his work rate and non-vanilla performance.

Acting up is the easiest way to gain promotion and that pay rise, as you will have made yourself the natural choice. Saying “Honestly, I can do better. Promote me and I’ll show you,’ is the wrong way to be thinking. Think of the corporal whose behaviour and performance is so good it’s more like a sergeant’s than a corporal’s.

Some housekeeping –

Ask your boss or line manager for some time when you can both talk without interruption;

They’re not stupid and will anticipate a couple of things: your either going to say you’re leaving, ask for more money, or hit them with a sizable problem (not too many people ask for time to make a great business suggestion – unfortunately);

Put your case forward politely with facts about what you’ve achieved and how you plan on furthering your department or area still;

Try to leave emotion out of it, as paying for your daughter’s braces and your husband’s 50^th birthday present aren’t business reasons for increasing costs;

Start with a thank you (perhaps for the opportunities provided so far or for the time he/she is taking now).

Save any aggression and threats for the sport’s field. If you go on the offensive, you’re odds on to meet equal bravado or at least a shut down on what you want to be an open conversation.

Remember: prove your quality first; prove value for money.

Chris Brogan is a business hero of mine. He’s built his own escape velocity in every sense. His blog is great a platform showing a balance of marketing, business, new media and raw advice. This has got him to AdAge’s marketing list at #3 (behind King Seth and the much-overrated Copyblogger). He shares ideas and advice in a philanthropic and life-coach way. As such, he’s one the more sensible Americans in the Twitter elite.

I really like his three-word riff. It’s his clever play at managing New Year resolutions. Three words to constantly remind you of where you want to be for 2011. Here’s something else I’ve found equally helpful in the getting-your-head-around-your-busy-life department: moving boxes.

I set up a spreadsheet that shows an overview of what I’m trying to achieve in the coming months. It’s not a detailed life or business plan but it prevents me trying to take on too much today and allows me to see progress without thinking I’ve got a million things yet to do and how will I ever get there.

Firstly: compartmentalise

I find compartmentalising things immensely helpful. I can cope with far more tasks and projects as long as I’m fully aware what plates are already in the air, what’s on them and where they are in their lifecycle. Putting things into a compartment is the knowledge and ability to mentally file away new issues and tasks. It means new developments don’t end in tears when looking at an already lively workload.

- Split big areas into individual sections e.g. re-launching your marketing campaign would fall in your work category; increasing your own Twitter usage would come under personal promotion.

- Include things that will take mindshare in your business and personal life. Also don’t be afraid to list a reward e.g. hit sales target this quarter and treat yourself to a new toy or a weekend away (it’s important to reinforce a positive otherwise it can all become a chore regardless of good or bad results).

Secondly: be realistic with time

Economists would say everything comes down to scarcity of resources and this is born of the same breadth. You can’t physically do everything right now or even this quarter, so prioritising, delegating and monitoring all play a huge part in your work life.

- Split your areas across weeks or months

- Be realistic and don’t over commit

- Be ruthless and stick to the priorities you set yourself regardless of other distractions (e.g. you planned to book your 2012 ski holiday in June so stop wasting time, surfing through choices today).

January challenge: take a look around T-mobile’s website and try finding the page that lets you cancel your mobile contract. Go on, take a minute. Good luck.

If you think call centre telephone systems are a way of companies sending you round in circles, this site was designed with the same penmanship. Not only is there is no cancellation page, button or form, there’s not even a mention of how to do it (e.g. by email, letter or telephone).

The ‘Contact Us’ page doesn’t show a list of departments with corresponding telephone numbers, rather it’s a loop of FAQs and forums. None of the FAQs mention cancelling. However, if you click to enter a specific FAQ (rather than just reading several on the page) there’s a feedback box to leave comments. Maybe we should try there?

Yes, yes, yes, this is a rant, but don’t we all understand now that customer service includes having the option to NOT sell. It’s the dentist offering preventative methods of cleaning. It’s the petrol company educating on how to drive more efficiently. It’s the social network that allows you to export all your contacts and data (to probably use at a rival). It’s the advertised cooling off period and no quibble returns policy that reassures buyers they’re not entering a hostile marriage.

An example of such customer service producing a winner is Zappos. It’s so good in fact, Amazon paid $1.2bn to buy the company.

I totally understand T-mobile don’t want the holes in their sales funnel to be bigger than the mouth of it but come on folks. Do they really think that after trawling their site and then spending over 30 minutes on the phone to their foreign call centre that I’ll be more enamoured with their brand?

They haven’t lost me as a customer this time around; they’ve lost my family and me for life. T-mobile: love their flashmob advertising, hate their stickiness.

When the pressure really builds I think of how difficult leadership must be for the Prime Minister. Surely our everyday business ‘issues’ are nothing compared to the table of responsibility inside number 10.

That’s why I’m doubly struck by Tony Blair writing in his autobiography and mentioning in his PR interviews that he changed dramatically as a leader. It’s obvious he grew in confidence and his skin thickened with conviction, but he soon realised that his leadership wasn’t about ideological fixations of left versus right – by his own admission it was more about structural change, project management and delivery.

Next time you’re ruing your team or thinking your day should be more about business and less about people, take solace in the fact our country’s leaders have the same headaches as you.

Not sure if it makes it any easier to bear though.